What We Know About the Motorola-Lenovo Deal (Updated)

With the Lenovo-Motorola deal now official from all parties, we thought a quick recap of everything was in store. Since this move has clearly brought out plenty of your emotions, especially when it comes to thinking about your next smartphone purchase, we are sure you want answers. While we won’t have them all, and should know more tomorrow after Google’s earnings call, we do have plenty to share.

Quick bullets:

Lenovo will pay “about” $2.91 billion for Motorola, including $1.41 billion will be paid at close, comprised of $660 million in cash and $750 million in Lenovo ordinary shares. The remaining $1.5 billion will be paid in the form of a 3-year promissory note.

Google is keeping a “vast majority” of Motorola’s patents to help “defend the entire Android ecosystem.”

Lenovo will receive a license to the patent portfolio that Google is keeping.

Lenovo will still receive over 2,000 patent assets, along with the Motorola Mobility brand and trademark portfolio.

Lenovo intends to keep Motorola’s “distinct brand identity.”

So what happens to the name “Motorola”? We don’t know just yet. With that said, after Lenovo bought IBM’s PC business, they certainly don’t call them “IBM Thinkpads” anymore. If you want a Thinkpad today, it’s a Lenovo Thinkpad.

Can a Lenovo “Moto X” or Lenovo “DROID ULTRA” carry weight with smartphone consumers in the U.S.? That’s what we are about to find out. They certainly know what they are doing on the PC side, having led the PC sales category for some time.

Lenovo is going to try to scale Motorola into a global player with their “experience in hardware” and “global reach.” As of right now, Motorola has its Moto X in North America, Brazil, and parts of Europe. It has the Moto G in a number of other countries, but the major global presence is not there.

As Page mentioned in his blog post, the deal has yet to be approved in the U.S. or China, and even if it does get approval, will take all sorts of time before that happens. Remember that Google announced plans to acquire Motorola in August of 2011, but that the deal wasn’t approved until the following May. For now, it is business as usual for Motorola and Google.

2014 should still be exactly what you were hoping it would be with Motorola doing the next line-up of phones to follow the Moto X. Larry Page even said he is “very excited” about the smartphone lineup for this year.

MotoMaker – staying or going? After sitting down for an interview with Motorola execs at CES, I got the feeling that MotoMaker and customization is here to stay. Well, at least for now. Motorola more than likely already has their 2014 roadmap ironed out, which would include MotoMaker. Once this deal is finalized and they start thinking about 2015, anything goes.

Page said that this move will help Google to “drive innovation across the Android ecosystem, for the benefit of smartphone users everywhere.” Is it just me, or does that come across as, “We got rid of Motorola so other OEMs could stop worrying about us owning them and focus on making great Android handsets.”?

Updates: A conference call with Lenovo is apparently going on, Re/code has the play-by-play, some of which we have included below.

Dennis Woodside (maybe other members of the executive team) will be a part of management, at least for the transition.

Chicago HQ of Motorola will stick around for now.

There are no current plans to lay anyone off – Lenovo likes the talent that Motorola possesses.

Lenovo wouldn’t commit to the Texas Moto X plant, saying that it will evaluate to see what the most cost effective way to win the market is.

Lenovo thinks it is in prime position to soon sell 100 million smartphones.

Regina Dugan’s advanced research unit (electronic tattoo stuff) was not a part of the acquisition.

At this point, I think I’m trying to remain calm and positive over the situation. Lenovo is a well recognized PC brand who is looking to acquire a well-recognized U.S. smartphone brand. Can those two mesh and create a smartphone arm that can compete with Samsung and Apple? I hope so. Is it better to have Lenovo behind you than Google? I’d argue that it’s probably not, though Lenovo is the real deal in terms of a tech company. It could have been worse. It could have been Huawei or ZTE or something.

CollapseShowComments

Lisa teller

This will turn out to be a remarkably stupid and cowardly move on google’s part.

jedialan

I’ll never buy another Motorola phone as long as Lenova is involved.

Eddie Spageddie

Initially a major disappointment. There’s no denying that Moto/Google was on a roll with their recent line of phones, and nobody does call quality better than Moto. No choice but to stay cautiously optimistic.

Sporttster

Me thinks Droid Life hitched it’s ponies to the wrong cart……

Keepfiring

At first I was bummed about this because I like where google has taken moto for software and the moto x hardware, but man have they got some learning to on product launches. Maybe that’s the upside to moto going to a company that has more experience in hardware?

Eskimo128

“Hello, Moto” –> “Hello, Lenovo”. Works for me. 🙂

Kevin

What people do not seem to be considering is it will make more sense for Lenovo to turn Motorola into a Windows Phone. It will go along with their computer sales nicely. Motorola X2 = Windows 9!

Way to early for doom and gloom on this one we got 2 handsets and a bunch of nice apps through the Moto X and G. With Google still holding these patents they can license these out to OEM’s to put in handsets going forward. This move may help the OEM’s feel like Google will let them still make devices in the future. Instead of having to worry like that did with the Motorola aquisition. Plus with Nest and them wanting to get more devices in homes it helps Google keep expanding.

Johnny Utah

If anyone is giving up their codes may I please have one? [email protected] Thank you

Franklin Ramsey

Why does it seem like Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” Motto no longer applies.

AbbyZFresh

It hasn’t applied at all since 2004.

Tony Page

Well… That didn’t take long! Just enough time to pour over their assets (patents included), decide what they like, and chuck em to the hell hounds. So that leaves poor Moto with their name in one hand (a Lenovo company) and their … what else?

Scott Loucks

I feel like the parents of my best friend the Moto X just got a divorce. :'(

Keith Taylor

How come Amazon didnt just buy them.. Dont they want a phone…lol

Keith Taylor

Lenovo is the same company that partitioned its memory in its tablets so that you can only use about three to four g’s of memory for apps and after that you are screwed. Bought a Lenovo tablet for my daughter two Christmas’s ago and when i discovered about 8 months later when my girl wasnt playing with it anymore she stated that she couldnt add anymore games. Called Lenovo and was informed that that was just the way it was and that they are not responsible for my perception of how its equipment is suppose to work only that it does work. F&&k them. I will never buy another product from them and even though the MOTO X was my second choice (G2) and I own a Xoom I will never buy a MOTO product now. I have enjoyed my Xoom so much and thought that I would upgrade it as soon as they came out with another but now not even going to happen.

hoosiercub88

This news makes me regret buying my Moto X… I guess this is the first time I’ve ever felt “scroogled” 🙁

Jeff C

Motorovo… 🙁

chris_johns

If verizon doesnt get a nexus phone ill seriously drop android once my X dies which hopefully it wont any time soon…itll be my only deciding factor in a new brand whatever brand makes the new nexus

Sqube

You can go ahead and drop Android, then. After the Galaxy Nexus foolishness, what impetus does Google really have to get burned by Verizon again?

I wonder if selling off Moto was part of the deal that allowed Google to bring Samsung back into the fold – They were talking about patent sharing and bringing their custom software back down to reasonable levels. Could this have been the big bargaining chip? One can wonder…

Sporttster

Some of you are talking going to Apple. The only way I could do that is if I jailbroke it. It is just too locked down. I love drag and drop, not having to use iTunes for everything. And their phones are tiny! I’d have to wait till they came out with one that was actually readable, lol…..

Robert Macri

Why would anyone go to Apple? If Samsung agreed to remove their bloat then they could still be a good option. Also Nexus is still around for now and there are the GPE devices.

hoosiercub88

I’d hate to consider it, but frankly I love my Moto X. I’m on Verizon *the ONLY carrier that actually works where I live* so Nexus isn’t an option for me. This news makes the future of the X and future Moto smartphones quite shaky. I don’t want to go back to Samsung unless they seriously tone down TW. I don’t want an HTC device, and even if Verizon gets the new flagship, it’ll be 4-6 months after it comes out.

Steve B

Sammy is definitely going to tone down TW. Maybe not on the S5, but whatever comes after will be very close to stock, considering Google’s implied influence.

standardsdt

I jumped shipped to an iPhone not because I don’t love Android. I just simply didn’t like the Android phones that Verizon was offering and moving to another carrier isn’t an option for me in my area. After having the device for about three months now I can say that I’m happy with the decision just because it works with no issues (much like my Galaxy Nexus). Are there some things that are annoying about the software? Absolutely but they aren’t deal breaker things for me.

iOS and Android are so similar now that pretty much anyone could jump back and forth between devices. The only thing that screws me up sometimes is finding where certain things are in “Settings”, seems like there was no thought put into where things should be and some stuff require going through multiple presses where as on my Nexus it was usually just two. iOS isn’t terrible, it’s come a long way from where it was two to three years ago but it still has a ways to go in what it offers.

Keith Taylor

Once again I will say that I believe that this is why we havent gotten an N10 yet as well. I said this late last year that something odd was going on.

Razma

it is a dark day in the world of Android….

Eric Whitaker

Its like Google was the parent that had to bring one of its children inside show them how to win the game and sent them back outside

Eric Cappa

Hop on the LG train everyone!

ctrlV

This was just not the best time. Motorola was just starting to turn turn around. Listening to its consumers. I just have a bad feeling about this. I guess no Moto X 2 for me.

UnixPimp

It is true. Motolora is a lousy brand. Google knew it. They just wanted their patents. Google, while selling Motorola for a loss, gets to keep those patents. Motorola is now another failed American electronics company that is now owned by a conglomerate based in the Far East.

thedude

please be specific when talking about Motorola. Theres Mobility and Solutions. Motorola Solutions is here to stay and is still and American electronics company.

mlbeep

So, the Chinese (who own Lenovo) buy the prime phone hardware maker from Google. Not sure this is a good thing.

Jérôme Besnard

It feels like my wife just announced me she cheated on me. When Google bought Motorola, I did not like one bit of the company. Now I recommend the Moto X (over the N5) to all my friends. I’m scared to see where Motorola is going to head from now on.

Vanquishgc

Before everyone brands Google as ‘evil’, let’s break this down and think rationally. They HAD to do this to keep Samsung from doing god knows what, from their own suite of apps, to forking Android, etc.That’s what they mean by protecting the Android ecosystem. Lenovo, while ditching the IBM name, probably knows better than to rebrand Motorola’s phones as Lenovos. Moto still has name recognition, and they know that. More than likely, Lenovo is going to simply give Moto the global reach that they couldn’t do on their own. I kind of doubt they gut the company and do everything themselves. Also, when it comes to other OEMs besides Samsung, I have to imagine this in some way helps LG and even HTC. Being on the retail side of things, I can tell you that while people are coming in looking for Galaxy phones (not even realizing they’re Android), once they catch a glimpse at a G2, or a One, they’re starting to reconsider. Do some research guys, and you’ll find that Samsung is digging a hole for themselves. Their stock is down. While packing in ridiculous specs, and useless software, they’re driving up the overall prices of their own phones, and most people out there are very price conscious. So when they see an S4 at $250, and right now a G2 free after rebate, what do you think we’re selling a lot more of? Same thing with the One. Sammy is all concerned with octa core processors and 2K displays that most people don’t give a crap about, when they should look at the overall value proposition. That’s what the others, including Moto, have been doing. I expect Lenovo to pick up where Google left off, and that’s focusing on user experience, not crazy specs that only 5% of buyers care about.

hoosiercub88

How about you back up your claims with some factual information instead of your personal opinion and banter on the subject.

Vanquishgc

Alright, besides my personal experiences on the sales floor dealing with these devices, what I’m referring to as far as Samsung digging themselves a hole goes back to some articles the Wall Street Journal printed over the last month or so. They’re sticking to the spec wars and packing in useless features. One of Google’s goals with Motorola was to force prices down on handsets to get Android and therefore Google services into more people’s hands. Great plan, really. Somehow I forsee these things being brought up when Google and Samsung execs met up to work out their ‘treaty’ so to speak. By the way, most of the comments here are opinion and banter, so what’s wrong with my two cents?

monkey god

I wonder if Motorola phones will still get the Nexus treatment when it comes to stock Android and updates. If so, then I don’t really mind that Lenovo bought them.

callumshell1

They aren’t going to drop the Moto name. That would be an extremely stupid thing to do.

wmsco1

Reality just hit the fan smoke clears. What do we see? Google buys moto, works out bugs. Makes use of old surplus parts and tweeks user experience. Launches Just Works campaign, And finally sells Co. Now we know why they could sell the phone so cheap. I think that sums it up. They will definitely have to come out strong for 2014 phones to bring the customer base with it.

Serpico

I just purchased a Moto X yesterday ~ and only because it was a “Google” device (albeit a “Moto” device). I know it sounds ridiculous, but I feel like I’ve been betrayed. I’ll probably return the device and try to get my upgrade back. Damn, may just be me but this just feels bad.

Chris

What we know: Lots of nerds are crying

BlackMaGiC1o0

R.I.P “Motorola An Ex-Google Company”

JT

Everybody needs to calm down. This nexus killing and samsung taking over android is all speculation right now. Rumors. Nothing is confirmed.

And for the rest of 2014, Motorola is a Google company.
Just let 2014 play out and see what happens.

bjssp

I was just waiting for them to release a slightly bigger phone so I could get all of the Moto X features. I hope I can still get this.

flosserelli

I was also hoping for a larger Moto X, but not anymore. This announcement killed that dream.

bluebanzai

Cough Maxx Cough + battery

Tom Z

This is kind of sad… Motorola was my hometown cell phone manufacturer. I sure hope that doesn’t go away. There is pride in the Motorola name in the Chicagoland area. My first cell phone was a Motorola flip.

Joshua Hoffman

I wasn’t able to get an X on T-mobile last year so i had to settle for the Nexus 4. My girlfriend just bought an X and i’ve been counting the days until i can get the X… I’m not sure i want one now, i was so into it because of the Google backing and i’m not sure what to expect from the new ownership.. The Nexus 4 is the only non moto phone i’ve owned, went from the droid, to the 3, to the RAZR. I just hope i can return.. RIP…

Geoffrey Gunter

Okay so as much as I hate using memes to express myself this seriously is what I’m thinking.

What google could do (to ease the ill will they’ve just created as well as to give lenovo a boost in the US market) is pick the new lenovo/motorola for the next nexus phone. Aka work with lenovo the way they’ve worked with other OEMs so that motorola doesn’t just die or transform into a horrible bloated and easily forgotten budget offering. I think it would be a really useful bridge to keep current moto fans and the tech media still interested in this company after the sale.

skzion

Truly, I HATED my Lenovo laptop, and I would never buy a Lenovo phone. I also prefer not to buy Chinese because China is an enemy state.

But I’m not religious about phones. I will only buy unbloated Android. And given Samsung’s latest shenanigans with international travel, i seriously doubt I would ever buy a Samsung phone.

Tim242

International travel? As long as you activate the phone in your home country, there is no issue.

OGDroid

I think Motorola is one of the most iconic brands in American history. I was heartbroken when IBMs sold their PC line to Lenovo but at least the ThinkPad brand lived on (and not just in name). Maybe I’m crazy, but from my myopic American perspective, Motorola is a better brand than Lenovo, and if I were in charge I would rebrand all of Lenovo to Motorola (Motorola ThinkPad, etc.). I hope Motorola doesn’t go the path of Digital Equipment (DEC), Comapq, and Tandem (thanks HP).

The only thing that bothers me about this is whether the Moto x will still get updates in the future as fast and consistent as they have been. Reason I got a moto x was because it was a Google company and very close to stock. I’m on Verizon so I can’t get the nexus 5.

Motorola really made no dent in the smartphone business… The HTC, Samsung, and LG flagships will still be great. Also for all the crying Nexus fans who don’t want it to go -> They kept trying to cut corners to make it cheap. I’d rather pay 50 to 100 more bucks to have the PERFECT Nexus. No crappy speakers or crappy camera. AKA a real flagship. Oh and being on the nations largest carrier would help too. Endrant

Jason B

To me, it seems wise to keep the Motorola name for smartphones. Lenovo doesn’t have the image to sell like a Motorola phone. They can then either add “by Lenovo” after the the product name, like Motorola Moto X by Lenovo, or just do what Google did: Motorola, a Lenovo brand (or company if they truly keep it a fully owned subsidiary).

Raven65

Very, very disappointing news! …and on the eve of the delivery of my new Moto X Developer Edition purchased in the big sale on Monday too. Looks like I may own the only smartphone model ever built in the USA. I bet Lenovo will shut down that Texas facility ASAP. Uggh… the future was looking so bright for Moto. DAMMIT GOOGLE… YOU SOLD MOTO OUT TO THE CHINESE!!! Man… makes me want to return my Moto X and go buy an iPhone!

DoctorJB

More like sold it out to the Koreans (Samsung).

Adrynalyne

Lenovo isn’t Korean…

DoctorJB

Samsung (whom Google is really “selling out” to) is. Lenovo may have put the money on the table but Samsung is the one forcing the deal.

Adrynalyne

Ah, I get ya now….

Yeah, if thats the reason, what a load of crap.

Turb0wned

Pretty damn pissed at google.

Todd Bettenhausen

Gutted… Google and Motorola were on such an exciting trajectory and now this… If the Samsung deal led to this, well, F U Samsung.

AndroidUser00110001

Well that just sucks!

Jimmy Debacher

I think that people should sign a partition to show Google that we want Motorola to stay!!

Xiria Seven

Glad I don’t own a Moto!

MikeSaver

FUUUUUCCCCKKKKKKK

guestshowhost

“Lenovo Droid 6” Nooope. Doesn’t sound very pleasant

WickedToby741

How about ThinkDroid?

quora

Let’s hope this doesn’t go the way of the ThinkPad. My company has stopped issuing ThinkPads. Also, I see a lot less ThinkPads nowadays. Whenever I headed to Silicon Valley for work, I see less and less ThinkPads at the San Jose airport. I used to see a lot. There must be a reason why businesses are moving away from ThinkPads.

Trophynuts

lol nice liquidation of all those Moto X phones on sale Monday and 70$ till V Day…i wonder how cheap they will be in two weeks. I hope they drop to 199. Then i will buy one.

MrT

I just bought a new laptop, and purposely avoided Lenovo. I don’t trust them because I’ve read various reports about them having hardware and software backdoors built into their products. Just got a Moto a few weeks ago, might be the last Moto and Android I run. I am not a fan of Apple, but I want some respect on my privacy and I just don’t get that from Google or Android.

psuturtle

This comment is filled with ignorance. If Lenovo can sell to the US government (which we do), I think it’s safe to say your privacy is just fine….at least as safe as it can be with the NSA around. I would love to see what “evidence” you have to backup the claims of hardware and software backdoors.

the dealer

This is not about the US this is about China and Google giving an insider who will sell high end phones to compete with apple

Dan

Have no clue in hell why this news is making all sorts of people swear off Android altogether and planning to jump ship over to Apple.

LaFave07

Fragmentation. Thought Motorola was going to get rid of a lot of it but I was mistaken.

Jimmy Debacher

I agree. Redicules.

Kelly

I’m not anywhere near swearing off Android (where would I go? I don’t like iOS’s restrictive approach and no other platform is really truly viable, at least at this point), but I have to admit this does dampen my feelings toward Google. It’s just hard not to feel tricked. Motorola felt so much like “a Google company”–the logo even said as much–so for them to dump them so unceremoniously seems cold. I think back to how many times Woodside talked in interviews about Google as a “long-term investor” that let Motorola take risks and innovate, and now it seems like that was never really the plan at all. I’m very plugged in to the Google ecosystem (Android user since OG Droid, All Access subscriber, regular Play Movies & TV patron, Chromecast owner, Chrome/Gmail/Drive/Calendar user, etc.) and I love their products, but they really have issues with customer relations.

anezarati

i wonder how kellen feels about this. just a couple of weeks ago he was getting interviews with moto execs, talking about the future of motomaker, project ara, moto x and g, etc. not sure how long the plan has been to sell moto to lenovo, but you have to think the execs had some idea and that they were just bs-ing with kellen.

Turb0wned

I can answer this. Where do people that want updates and support go now? The Nexus looks to be getting killed off also. The Moto X was doing what no other manufacturer has for Android. We got Kit Kat before the Nexus 4 and 7 for crying out loud!

I am truly considering the new iPhone if this is the case and the iPhone has a 4.7or bigger screen. And no, rooting is not an option for me. I’m done with rooting, never thought about rooting my Moto X for the first time in years.

grumpyfuzz

If they kill off the nexus, I don’t know what I’d buy lol… Though it doesn’t make sense to me that since they launch a nexus with a new version of android, would they just say introducing android 5.0/4.5 or whatever it is, and not even have anything running on it? That wouldn’t make sense to me, but who knows what will happen.

anezarati

the answer to that question is Google Play Edition devices.

Turb0wned

But you have to pay $650-$700 for those…..

anezarati

yeah, thats what sucks about this whole situation. as a person on a prepaid, no contract cell plan, my worst fear is that cheap off contract, high quality devices will become non existant with the end of the nexus program

grumpyfuzz

I just read an article about that, man I really hope that doesn’t happen.

ZeeX1

So, to Google, Nest is more valuable than Moto??! They paid 3.2bn for Nest in CASH!!!

Tech Geek

After this fuckup deal selling out Moto…Google can stick there Nest thermostat up their ass! Not in my Home ever.

dont worry the nexus program is going to be killed off thanks to the deal between google and samsung.

jimt

LG made the Nexus 5, maybe this means we will get a moto nexus. Sammy doesn’t have much to say I hope. I wouldn’t buy a nexus with an apple button.

sdsdsdf

lenovo requires a signature on all deliveries, even $15 computer speakers.

psuturtle

If anybody’s interested, the deal includes ~3500 employees with 2800 of those being in the US. Not sure if that info was posted elsewhere.

Lenovo as a whole has made over $5B in acquisitions in the last 10 days (IBM server being the other).

Jonathan

Anyone with a Lenovo PC, is it filled with bloatware? Does it come with Best Buy and Walmart apps?

I think this could be good for Motorola, as long as Lenovo doesn’t undo their recent progress. As far as PC manufacturers, Lenovo is pretty good. I would die if Dell bought Moto. I hope the Moto X isn’t the last Motorola phone I’m ever excited about.

psuturtle

There is “bloatware” in Lenovo’s software images. At least on the PC side, it’s all removable. The exact amount of bloatware changes quite often depending on what contracts are in place. Margins are so slim on PCs, you almost have to have that monetization in order to compete.

DoctorJB

Had a Lenovo Ideapad android tablet and it was full of bloat. It came with over 30 preinstalled apps including a Lenovo market. Worst thing is that they have multiple versions of the same bloat on the device.

Adrynalyne

Their workstations aren’t.

Well, they have a grip of Lenovo utilities, but they are useful. I only had to remove Norton and put my own AV on it.

jimt

I’m using a lenovo thinkpad at the moment. There is no bloat and I can delete anything that I want, if I wanted to. Windows 7 is windows 7. Don’t know about win8 which I won’t use or buy ever. Do not like the big square tiles.

michael

yeah, let’s help our communists friends from oversea. /sarcasm off

Apple is the only american phone manufacturer anymore. Europe just have nokia (accquired by mircosoft, so somehow american)

Pretty damn sad

traumadog

“Apple is the only american phone manufacturer anymore. ”

Have you ever read the back of an iPhone?

You do know where it’s made, right?

michael

yeah, but it was at least designed in the USA. Now it is all made in Asia. Like throwing away our economy.

traumadog

a) there’s no saying that the new Motorola phones will be designed in China. Lenovo has a US headquarters and R&D center in North Carolina.

b) the iPhone has to-date used Samsung chips – not a typical “US company”. And if you want the dozens of engineers that work on iPhone production to count against the thousands of workers that actually build it, then fine. But I’d also point out that you can’t count the software designers in that total – the Android software designers would still be the same, and in the US like the iOS designers.

c) you can’t complain about “throwing away our economy” when people insist on letting the free-market work. Instituting controls on the economy is simply un-American. And this is an example of the free market at work.

Adrynalyne

Yeah, accept that part of where it is made in China.

LaFave07

This is pretty disappointing. I was looking forward to getting a Motorola device this year for the great features and knowing I’d get prompt updates. After my last year and a half with a Galaxy SIII and Note II I can confidently say I’m going back to an iPhone.

Android has some good but the uncertainty of the OS and hardware is enough for me to not stay. I shouldn’t have to worry about getting updates for a phone or rooting and installing ROMs. I shouldn’t have to worry about an app or a game “not compatible with my device” when it’s barely over a year old (GTA San Andreas). IPhone isn’t perfect either but at least I know what I’m getting.

Unfortunately fragmentation always has and always will really hurt Android. I thought Motorola was going to help finally end it but I was wrong.

HolyFreakingCrap

I was saving up to buy a couple Moto X’s. Not any more.

Jimmy Debacher

Its not Motorola’s fault. It would be Google who signed them over to Lenovo. Everything still goes to Moto/Google. It will be awhile before Motorola be owned by Lenovo.

EricMayBell

The acquisition won’t happen for at least another year plus its going to be a slow transition after that. I think you’d be safe with the moto x still. It truly is an amazing phone

Good. Lenovo has some of the highest build quality laptops on the market. Maybe they can get a proper camera sensor in a phone now.

jer85008

While I don’t think Lenovo is dumb enough to screw up what has turned out to be the best lineup of Android phones over the last year (Moto X / Moto G), this is extremely disappointing. I don’t see a long-term future for manufacturing in the US once the deal is done. What’s the point? Forget that Moto Nexus too, will never happen now.

psuturtle

Lenovo does have some manufacturing in the US for other products, so I wouldn’t say it’s out of the question. The Lenovo US headquarters is in NC, as is their US manufacturing, so maybe they didn’t like the idea of adding a plant in Texas. I wouldn’t completely rule out MFG in the US since Apple is making a big push for it as well. Just probably won’t happen in the Texas plant.

madeinamerica

Like I got yelled at for posting before, Google hates it’s customers.. You are nothing but data to them. So now is it time for real American cowbird lime m$ and apple?

kg2128

Wow I am surprised and feeling smug at the same time. Maybe the Moto X wasn’t so great and wasn’t selling so well after all. So many Motorola fanboys made it sound like the Moto X was some revolutionary device (it wasn’t) and was changing the game (it didn’t). All reports suggested the Moto X was not selling well and it seems like they were accurate. I definitely didn’t hate Motorola, just the idea of some low-mid tier device priced and marketed like a high end device (they lowered the price later but too little too late). Motomaker was a nice idea but also a gimmick that didn’t make up for the noticeably outdated hardware. I was hoping they would learn from the mistakes that were the droid ultra/moto x/droid mini/etc. and then come back with a real smartphone that people would actually want, but I guess it was too much work even for Google.

Kelly

“…and feeling smug”

Well, at least you said it before anyone else could.

Moto X was never a low-mid tier device etc. etc. this argument is tired and has been retreaded time and time again. You’re probably right about the sales, but everything else about this comment is colossally wrong.

sirmeili

Just because something wasn’t widely adopted doesn’t mean it is a better choice. BetaMax VS. VHS for example. The Moto X showed that a device could get by with lower specs and perform just as well as some of the higher spec’d phones. I have yet to see any lag on my Moto X and the extra features are ones I will dearly miss if they go away in future phones (Active Display, touchless control, Moto Assist).

The ultimate factor for most people should be “Do these 2 devices perform on the same level despite specs, and if so, does that mean I should pay any more or less for the lower spec’d version?”. AFter all, that additional cost could have gone to the extra processors that allow for battery optimization and touchless control.

For years, Apple Macs (Before the intel switch) seemed to operate a lot better for the specs of the machines compared to the PCs of the time (a 350mhz Mac seemed as good as a 450mhz PC if not better). Now I’m no Apple fanboy (don’t own a Mac, iPhone or iPad and never plan to), but back then Apples got away with lower spec’d machines that outperformed their PC counterparts and charged MORE for them. Motorola is doing the same with the MotoX, but at least they are charging the same (and now even lower).

Lets also not forget that some of that cost was because of US Manufacturing, which IMO, did add to the cost, and I feel it was worth it (to me).

kg2128

I have no problem with people who want to get by with lower specs, I realize not everyone wants the best hardware or even the second best hardware. But your post is another example of the Moto X fanboys I was referring to. You own one and love it obviously but then you imply that the Moto X performs the same as other high end phones. That is where I find it ridiculous. It’s the car equivalent of, “my 4 cylinder feels nice and I don’t need more power, so it’s just as good as any v-8.” And yes absolutely the Moto X should have been cheaper regardless of where it was made, because the hardware was/is inferior. I know the cost of making it was close to other high end phones, but again a low-mid tier device costing that much to make is a failure. The apple example doesn’t help your case, because that was also fan boys exaggerating things. If the Macs before intel chips (i remember they had Motorola and some other chips in there) performed so well like you and others believed they obviously would have stuck with it and it would have forced Microsoft/Intel to adapt. That never happened, just like the Moto X never became a success.

sirmeili

“I have no problem with people who want to get by with lower specs, I realize not everyone wants the best hardware or even the second best hardware”

Thanks for recognizing that. Now maybe you should recognize that “better specs” do not always equal “better peformance”. It’s fact, not fiction and it is widely accepted in other areas of technology.

“But your post is another example of the Moto X fanboys I was referring to.”

So you assume I am a fanboy because I like my phone? You seem to be a “specs” fanboy. You naturally assume that better specs equals a better experience that that is definitely not always the case. Have you used a MotoX and compared them? I don’t see much performance difference if any at all.

“You own one and love it obviously but then you imply that the Moto X performs the same as other high end phones. That is where I find it ridiculous.”

See, that doesn’t mean I didn’t do my research. You seem to assume that because I own a Moto X that I’ve never used any other phone. You know what they say about assuming don’t you? I’m sorry you find it ridiculous and if you in fact have NOT used a Moto X I find you ridiculous for making and assumption based on “specs”. This is after all one of the first Android phones to show that you don’t necessarily need better “specs” to perform well and give an excellent user experience.

“It’s the car equivalent of, “my 4 cylinder feels nice and I don’t need more power, so it’s just as good as any v-8.””

And I’m so glad that you brought this up. I happen to drive a 4 cylinder. A Pontiac Solstice GXP to be exact. Its relatively light and in it’s stock configuration (which I currently am running) it has more than enough power for it’s weight (though I could easily remove the software limitations on the HP (root) and get a healthy increase in power). Driving around, I always get those guys in their V8 monstrosities (Older Muscle cars, but some of the new ones as well such as the new Cameros) and I can easily hold my own and I often do.* So I don’t see how your comparison really works on in real world life. My “smaller 4 cylinder engine” often performs and even outperforms V8s. It’s all about the optimizations. My car is lighter and the engine is optimized to get the most out of it. It can be pretty damn good on gas at times (some owners get 30-40mpg when just “cruising”, I normally get closer to the 30mpg).

“And yes absolutely the Moto X should have been cheaper regardless of where it was made, because the hardware was/is inferior. I know the cost of making it was close to other high end phones, but again a low-mid tier device costing that much to make is a failure.”

Perhaps it should have been cheaper, but we don’t know the cost of the R&D it took to optimize the processor setup. Yes they are older chips, but they are used in a very innovative way that allows the user to get the most out of it with lower specs. Couple this with the very thin skin Moto put on it and you’re left with a very good performing device that can hold it’s own against other phones that might have better specs.

“The apple example doesn’t help your case, because that was also fan boys exaggerating things. If the Macs before intel chips (i remember they had Motorola and some other chips in there) performed so well like you and others believed they obviously would have stuck with it and it would have forced Microsoft/Intel to adapt. ”

This is where you are wrong. The era of computers I am talking about they most definitely did out perform the equivalently “spec’d” PCs. This was mainly due to Apple’s control over the hardware they use and optimizing the software for that limited range of hardware. The PowerPC chip also could have had some play in this as well. That kind of control works (we see it today in iPhones where they can easily hold their own against their higher spec’d Android competition). True, there was a point that Apple moved away from the PowerPC chips, but that was AFTER Intel went back to the drawing board after the big Processor wars with AMD (Faster clock speed vs more efficient chips). See AMD saw things differently, they knew that power and performance did not come from higher clock speeds and chips that could double as space heaters, but more efficient computing. At one point AMD was considered to be the chip to get for power and perfromance, especially with the gaming crowd and even though they were often clocked slower. Then Intel got smart and started redesigning their chips to follow the same line of thinking and you can see where we are today. Apple did not move to Intel until after that swap (Which occurred during the P4 which was ultimately taken over by the Core 2 chips which were lower clocked chips that out performed their predecessors.)

“That never happened, just like the Moto X never became a success.”

But it did happen, it just wan’t Apple that caused Intel to “get smart”, it was AMD and once Intel made the change, Apple made the swap to the better architecture.

It’s been fun and I really hope that one day you pull aside me in your V8 so I can show you how well an optimized piece of machinery can perform just as well as a more powerful machine.

*When I monstrosities, I mean they are just big. They have big engines, but they have a lot of weight to push around as well. About 33% more than my car. I actually love the looks of the new Cameros and other “retro” styled muscle cars that have come out in the past few years

Chad

Apple doesn’t really seem like the evil antichrist anymore.

anezarati

“Yuanqing quotes President Obama who said now is the time to invest in America.

“We heard him and are doing exactly just that,” Lenovo executive says.”

Thanks Obama

Never Hide

🙂

Ken

there goes the hope for a more blended google/motorola…

Chad

This will probably be what finally sends me to the crApple side. More than likely making the Moto X my last Android device. After a bumpy 4.5 year relationship that began with the OG Droid. Just really burnt out on trying to keep up with all of the phones, rooting, flashing, etc.

LaFave07

I agree. At least with Apple you know what you’re getting. It’s too hard to keep up with Android and know if you’re device will be updated and if there will be any apps that won’t work with your phone in the future (still can’t pay San Andreas on my Note II).

Android is becoming a mess.

Chad

Exactly! So tired of waiting for updates to fix issues from the last one, scanning forums (xda) to find fixes for my issues, wondering if it’s an app that is causing my phone’s battery to die rapidly or causing it to respond sluggishly. I was really hoping that the new Motorola under Google was gonna be the saving grace. Now I’m just ready to join most of my friends with iPhones who enjoy iMessage and apps that are for the most part, just better on iOS.

LaFave07

I know what you mean. Been there done that. Don’t even get me started on the shitware that comes on them from AT&T and Verizon that’s almost impossible to get rid of without a custom ROM.

People can blame the carriers for that but why is this not present on iPhones?

Jimmy Debacher

I’m in the same boat. I’ve had nothing but Motorola.

jimt

A Nexus 5 should satisfy your OG Droid needs.

Aooga

I don’t know…..with all this talk about the Nexus line going away and now this, I might just get the next iPhone. Google’s becoming a bit too greedy now. That is if apple gets their act together and releases a bigger phone.

hkklife

Greed is a terrible thing. Google is increasing becoming more Apple-like. A shame, really. I was hoping HTC would have acquired Lenovo and someone else would have grabbed Moto. I said from day #1 that Google’s heart was never in the Moto acquisition. This is ALL indirectly Jha’s fault, by the way. He set up Motorola up for failure years aho and Google had no patience for them to right the ship.

tom riddle

“After reading comments from all parties, are you feeling any better?”

Not a chance…

Travis Walls

Thoughts about this as they come to mind:

– Sad to see a U.S. company go to Chinese ownership (how long before the Moto X assembly gets moved overseas?)
– This is probably good for Google for lots of reasons
– Less baggage from loss of profits, etc.
– They don’t alienate other Android phone makers
– They got what they really wanted (patents, etc.)
– This is good for turning Lenovo into an anti-Apple
– How many other Android makers cover so many other product categories?
– A company can buy everything IT from the same place, now including Android smartphones

As a new Moto X owner, I feel rather uncomfortable about this. One of the primary reasons for me to get this phone was because of the parent company and their influence on the decisions that were made in producing it. In the end, I can’t blame Google for looking after themselves, but it doesn’t make me feel any better about the deal.

anezarati

those last 3 bullets can be said about samsung as well. samsung also has the brand recognition already. samsung is becoming too powerful.

Travis Walls

I guess that is true. I guess I just only think of Dell, HP, and IBM/Lenovo from an enterprise IT perspective. It is like how Asus also sells PCs, but they wouldn’t be in the data center where I work.

anezarati

ah, i see what you are saying in that last bullet now. i think autocorrect got you on “enterprise”

sirmeili

My issue with Samsung isn’t that they are becoming so powerful, its that they are becoming too Apple-like. They lock their devices to only their own devices (Gear only works with Samsung phones for instance) and they are trying to hard to make “Android” their own. I think one of the reasons the motoX performs so on par with higher spec’d devices is because they don’t have the bloat that companies like Samsung load on their devices. You really need more “power” when you have more crap to deal with.

That said, I bought my GF a Lenovo Yoga Pro 2 for xmas. Best laptop ever. I now want one to replace my Dell Precision M6600 (Yes, I realize that are not on par performance wise). I just love the features in the laptop and it’s usability. If Lenovo can keep Motorola’s current path of innovation and mix in their own innovative spirit, I can see it being a win.

I will agree with @disqus_WRox8kuLiF:disqus though and say that I’m sad to see Motorola going oversees to a non-american Company. I also hope they keep the manufacturing in the US as it was one of the reasons I bought the MotoX.

Booyabobby

I worry that Lenovo is gonna be like Samsung. Developing their own android skin that nobody likes with features nobody wants.

hkklife

They already have. Their tablets ship with that hideous carousel launcher, never receive updates and are always under -spec’d. Occasionally they ship with show stopping bugs (I recall a Lenovo tablet that launched last year with 16GB internal storage but less than ~ 1 gig of actual space to install apps due to wacky partitioning.

psuturtle

I wouldn’t get in a panic just yet. From a business side, Lenovo’s purchase of the IBM PC division has been something they now study in business classes for how well it was executed (nobody really gave that a shot either when it happened). The Lenovo PC business was huge in China, but non-existent in the US. IBM’s worldwide share in the PC market was around 4% when it was sold. In less than 10 years, they’ve moved to #1 worldwide passing giants along the way. Fast forward to this deal, Lenovo is very big in AP with mobile, but again non-existent in the US market. They proved they could do it with PCs, so I think there’s at least a decent chance they can do something similar with mobile (though the competition is admittedly much tougher).

If I had to guess, you’re not going to suddenly see existing Lenovo phones showing up in the US in the near future. They know how to do worldwide products already, so if that was the plan they’d already be here. I suspect you’ll see the Moto brand and designs hang around for a while. If it continues to grow, eventually they’ll likely merge the brands together under the Lenovo brand. This is siimilar to what happened to the IBM product line when the PC sale happened. The good thing (for Lenovo at least) is that their own brand is much stronger at the time of this acquisition than it was at the time of the IBM acquisition.

And for full disclosure, I was an IBM engineer in the PC division for several years before the sale, and have been a Lenovo engineer ever since the PC sale. No I do not work in the mobile unit.

anezarati

well someone can fun with this if they still want a moto x:

VDayX-DOAD-TUD5-WKQS-VGI4

expires 2/3

chris125

Well now all the momentum moto had with the x is gone. Its a shame I was really liking what moto was doing and the direction they were headed

Dave

Moto made a good phone that a small community (us) enjoy. This really doesn’t indicate mainstream success. They were definitely heading in a great direction, but as a business unit, just aren’t pulling in dollars like a certain Korean OEM that sells 75% of all Android devices, who swims in money. Hopefully Lenovo can bring them increased success. As for me I’ll have to wait and see their new products before I even consider buying one.

David Rhiley

Motorola was a US company that was bought by Google, a US company, and started assembling phone in the USA. Now this is one way that a Chinese company can squash that tradition and direction for US manufacturing and jobs. Anyone that had hopes for the USA making strides in the tech industry should be as disappointed with Google as I am right now.

sergio garduno

I know, I had hope that people would begin to in source, it’s gone now and I feel I’m losing my home to foreign countries even more every second.

Montrale Hammonds

Yup you’ve all but ruined my day reading this…while I love my Moto X its now time to look elsewhere come later this year. I feel like crying right now ( .__.)

sergio garduno

Lenovo’s going to outsource to China, those greedy bastards lots of people who had hope that in sourcing would start with the Moto X have been let down by corporate greed once again. I can’t BELIEVE Google let this happen.

Radgatt

We may have this coming soon to a Verizon near you…

Jeremy Martin

”
So what happens to the name “Motorola”? We don’t know just yet. With that said, after Lenovo bought IBM’s PC business, they certainly don’t call them “IBM Thinkpads” anymore. If you want a Thinkpad today, it’s a Lenovo Thinkpad.” — The difference here is that Lenovo didn’t buy IBM they just bought a product brand. Lenovo bought Motorola so I would assume that the Motorola name they will use since they own it.

The Gooch

How does this affect the Droid branding with VZW? And the recent spate of FAST updates for both the X and the latest Droids?
MotoMaker sounds like it’s on thin ice.
“LenovoMoto ThinkPhone”
“LenovoRola”
“ThinkMoto”
Guess that “firewall” between Google and Motorola wasn’t needed…
Sounds like Google still had a vested interest in Motorola though (making money from the licensing).

sirmeili

Droid branding is licensed from Lucasfilm by VZW not motorola. There were non-Motorola Droid devices such as the HTC Droid Incredible and Droid Eris. I don’t think this would affect it much. Perhaps Lenovo decides to not do it for Verizon (which could kill the “Droid” line since I think the only ones left are Motorola phones).

That said, I honestly think Lenovo would be smart to keep the Motorola name around. Motorola is a huge name in the mobile space, and they should definitely leverage that if nothing else than for the heritage in the mobile industry that it brings with it. I know they aren’t on top, but that name should carry a lot of weight. I think most people can remember owning their RAZRs.

CaptainHowdy13

Can we make a custom Moto X that says “Look for a new job buddy”?

James Hill

Blame Samsung.

Sillygooses

Thank god I didn’t jump on the moto x bandwagon. My s4 is thhaaaaaatt much sweeter.

Nikuliai

keep telling that to yourself son. Moto may be destined to fail in 2015, but it doesn’t suck now

Sillygooses

I will, thanks! Lol

schlanz

I suppose I’m the only one on this site that isn’t concerned about this news. It will doubtfully change very much in the next couple years, and even if it does, the whole of android does not rest on the success or failure of a single OEM (or phone.)

AbbyZFresh

Umm Samsung would like to speak to you. Samsung is the primary reason for Android’s success.

Tim242

I’m glad I’m not the only one that knows this.

Adrynalyne

Android allowed for Samsung’s success.

It was a mutually beneficial arrangement.

AbbyZFresh

Umm no. Samsung was already on the come up before Android came around. But it was a bit slower for them at the time. They were already beginning to rival Sony’s status around 09-10. Android simply sped up the time needed for Samsung to become a even bigger to where they are now.

Adrynalyne

On the come up with what OS?

Apple decimated Winmo in short order.

Bada never really took off either.

RIMM never licensed BBOS to anyone else.

So what OS were they on the come up with?

Tim242

Proprietary. I owned the Samsung Instinct.

Adrynalyne

Didn’t even make a dent in Apple’s sales.

Tim242

The iPhone was only on at&t at the time. So, you can’t say that. The Instinct was marketed as the better than iPhone device, and sold quite well. It wasn’t as nice, but had more capabilities.

Adrynalyne

Was the Instinct not Sprint only?

Either way, ATT only or not, its sales paled in comparison to the iPhone. Samsung didn’t make real headway until Android came along.

Tim242

I’m not arguing that fact. I was just answering your question about what OS they used before Android. They were fighting Apple before Android. The instinct VS iPhone commercials were quite the marketing campaign.

Adrynalyne

I wasn’t asking what OSes they used, I was asking what mystical OS was giving Samsung headway against the giants of the time.

I had an Omnia 910 in those days and it was more capable than the Instinct and still didn’t make headway against the big 3 back then or even gain number one slot in winmo.

Reeb

Android was nothing before Motorola and the Droid. There’s a reason this site is named DROID LIFE and not Galaxy POS life.

Tim242

You are living in the past. In the last 3 years, Samsung has ruled.

Tim242

It rests on the success of Samsung.

Colby Edwards

This is the first time I’ve ever been legitimately depressed about something tech related. This really sucks.

hkklife

This is right up there with HP buying Palm or Acer buying Gateway IMO.

Joshua Hoffman

I agree… I was so excited for the future… Its just business in the end…

sean carey

SUCKS

Rich Nahra

This news doesn’t bother me at all. The “killing off Nexus” news i find extremely disturbing.

Corey Hedberg

I agree with Rich. Let’s talk about what really matters, what does this mean for the future of the Nexus line?

Not really feeling any better about the deal, just disappointed at this turn of events. Was looking at Motorola for my wife’s next phone (soon) and later on this year for myself. Now I’m much more hesitant. :-

I’m looking at it this way…I’m been a hardcore thinkpad user since before they were Lenovos and I still love them. Hopefully I can say the same for the motorola/lenovo phones I buy. They left thinkpads as thinkpads and hopefully they leave motorolas as motorolas. I will lose it if they tack on their skin to future motorola phones.

Menger40

Moto’s brand just got powerful again, and I don’t think Lenovo will want to change a thing about it.

AbbyZFresh

Yes it will. A lot of people considering buying a Moto X because of the backing of Google will now change their minds after hearing about this news today.

Tim242

Regardless of the positive things they did that you liked…they had not gotten powerful again. Moto X sales have not been good.

Scott

That’s why they keep having these promotions.

Menger40

I hear what you’re saying, but you’re talking about sales and I’m talking about brand perception, which might not have been clear from my word choice. Think about your perception of Motorola before the Moto X came out, before they spent all those marketing dollars and got all that good press on their new device. Most people knew them as the maker of solid but bland RAZR devices. Their image is a lot better now than it used to be. Their brand has more personality and tech press loves them.

Whether that translated into sales or not, I don’t know. But Lenovo just spent good money acquiring Motorola, and if they’re smart they’ll be careful not to weaken this new positive image that Motorola has been cultivating.

PoisonApple31

Motorola definitely has a positive image going, techies like them, but they are close to being another Nokia. For as big as Motorola once was, it’s rather sad that it can’t stand on its own.

Orion

When I first read this, I thought …..damn Kellen is going to have another baby.

Alex Dorovskikh

It is a part of Samsung-Google deal. For me it is clear… But I hope that Lenovo will leave Motorola as an independent branch and will let them produce phones as before… Btw, I have Lenovo laptop, and I like it. I can’t say this about Lenovo smartphones though… Fingers crossed for Motorola…

sagisarius

I think the only thing I want to hear out of Lenovo is that they’ll keep the fast android updates coming to the phones.

RoadsterHD1

This BITES!!!!

Droidarmy

Im more than a little concerned about this….

C-Law

I’m feeling depressed and horrible. This really ruined my day. I was so happy that moto was back on track and making an awesome product but that’s most likely over without Google’s support

Tim242

Depressed? Ruined your day? You should probably adjust your priorities in life and get outside more.

calculatorwatch

It’s just a day. I’m sure you’ve spent well over 24 hours of your life reading/responding to this site. It’s not like he said “This ruined my life i’m gonna go kill myself”

Higher_Ground

Why are you always on somebody’s case? And it’s a bit ironic that you’d tell someone to that given how you seem to troll these comments every day…

Qwerty

I’m sure he isn’t depressed but a little bummed at the very least. I know I am. Just like C-Law, I was very happy to see Motorola making their way back up again. They released a stellar smartphone with stellar features and on Verizon out of all wireless companies. That alone made me feel like I could own a phone I really liked without choosing one I had to settle with on a wireless provider that had a great network.

To me, it very much seems like Google had no interest in even using Motorola as some sort of vehicle to implement other projects without giving them the Google branding. That’s what appeared to be the case initially. Now, the impression Google’s left me with is that they were only patent hungry and dumped Motorola. I normally wouldn’t have cared about something like that, but there was something a little extra dick-ish about the way Google handled this. Google’s attitude has been really disappointing me lately with forcing Google+ on YouTube users and now this too. They don’t seem to be working in the old spirit they used to have.

Jordan

“Lenovo wouldn’t commit to the Texas Moto X plant, saying that it will evaluate to see what the most cost effective way to win the market is.” so there goes the whole ‘made in the USA’ thing.

Ryan

Yup Chinese kids will be making the new X and their cousin will be dying getting the stuff for iPhone screens.

Guest

If you worked for Motorola you probably should have been looking a couple of years ago.

Maxim∑

Yeah because Foxconn and apple are the only ones having issues. Someone’s biased

droidify

Lenovo has a huge manufacturing plant in my town in NC. They just opened their second plant next door to it a few months ago. They have been great at manufacturing in the states while other companies moved to sweat shops. I’m not saying they will do this with moto but I am more optimistic than if Samsung or Sony would have bought them.

who cares. I didn’t buy the Moto X because where it was assembled. I bought it because of the customization, nice design, backing of Google, and fast updates

MistaButters

You know American jobs are nice. Especially consider it only adds a couple dollars to the phone manufacturing cost.

Plus, you think you are going to get your MotoMaker phone in a couple days if it’s being shipped from Asia?

Albert

My Macbook Pro Retina model was overnight shipped from Beijing, China. So I mean it can be done.

MistaButters

Your Retina MacBook Pro also has a nice 30% margin, depending on size and assuming you didn’t make hardware changes. If you made hardware changes and that’s why it came from China, that margin goes up.

Adrynalyne

I spent over a month waiting on a Thinkpad w530. So there is precedence too.

My W520 got to me in 2 days after it was shipped, there isn’t really a precedent.

Adrynalyne

Except there is for customized products and we were talking about motomaker.

I didn’t order a premade. I bet you did.

sean carey

well you just lost out on fast updates, backing of google. keep your nice design (will be in Chinese next time) and customization (hello kitty prints for all). Im ready to sell my Moto X. 32GB if any takers…

Aooga

Sad but true.

Higher_Ground

I could be wrong, but I’m fairly sure they have a presence in North Carolina, and maybe elsewhere in th US.

anezarati

yes, their headquarters are in RTP near raleigh, nc

WickedToby741

Not necessarily. Lenovo manufactures ThinkPads in North Carolina, so if they deem manufacturing costs reasonable and domestic manufacturing necessary (and to the Moto Maker process it is), then they’ll keep it.

chjapa

and that boys and girls, is the most disturbing news of all. Lenovo won’t commit to the Texas Moto X plant (meaning how many US jobs?) and we know what the most COST EFFECTIVE way to win????(win meaning make tons of profit at the expense of everything else) the market is.

Razma

2500 jobs at that plant

michael

it wont be just the plant.

Scott

R. I. P MOTOROLA….

Dave

Or Googarola.

1MPR0BUS

Incoming Chinese Bloat and Spyware.

DoctorJB

You must have a Thinkpad Tablet.

Jeff C

With the NSA’s spying… to paraphrase Hillary… what difference does it make at this point? I’d rather have the Chi-comms spying on me than our government.

michael

I’m really upset. I really liked the google motorola. Now it is chinese…
When will the politics wake up to help our economy? The plant is done and I have the feeling that other workplace are done too.

akhnaten

If I worked for Motorola in America, I would be looking for another job tomorrow.

Mike

I know people who worked there that started looking 3 years ago.

MistaButters

I wouldn’t. Google paid out really nice severances to anybody who lost their job during the acquisition, and even when they sold Home.

onDroid

Google sold Motorola. If Lenovo fires anyone they will be paying their severance, not Google.

MistaButters

Within the year of the acquisition laid off employees got google severance.

Franklin Ramsey

Yes, this was because during the last acquisition, Google was the one doing the buying. In this case, Lenovo is.

MistaButters

No, when Google sold Home to ARRIS, if any Home employees were laid off during the calendar year, they received Google severance (which was 3-6 months full salary depending on length of working there and, IIRC, 12 months of health care).

MistaButters

During the year of the deal close, if you were laid off you got Google severance.

Scott

I knew their sales were hurting them when they kept giving out promotions, but I didn’t know the company itself is gone Hill. Samsung FTW

possomcrast1

Why. Just why, Google? I’m disappointed that they gave up on the company after, what, 2-3 years? I don’t get why Google would need to sell the company with the huge amount of cash that they have to invest and work with. Maybe it was just about the patents the entire time. I don’t even own a Moto X, but I was looking forward to investing in the GOOGLE OWNED company with my next phone purchase.

Scott

What do you expect? Moto kept using old specs and they weren’t on top of their games. Suck it up!

Adrynalyne

I’m sorry, do you need a quad core CPU pushing your bloated overlay to be considered a good spec?

Scott

Listen up. It’s 2014, I don’t want a phone that has 2012 specs. Technology is moving fast. The only phone manufacturer that is keeping up with technology these days are LG and samsung.

Good_Ole_Pinocchio

I think his question still stands. “Techology is moving fast” has nothing to do with anything, if you can’t show what the actual real world difference is.

Scott

Sure it does. Come on now. Let’s be real here.

Adrynalyne

Being real is something most people do not do. Our society is driven by marketing, and this is a perfect example.

Which would you rather have? A vehicle that weighs more and has a bigger engine, or a vehicle that weighs less, and has a smaller engine? Let me also add that they both have the same performance numbers in the real world.

calculatorwatch

You realize you could talk to 19 of 20 people on the street and none of them would care what kind of processor your LG or Samsung phone has in it, right? I think you’re the one who is separated from reality.

Nikuliai

wow you seriously know nothing about phones rofl

adh328

HTC*

Jkdem85

Because they only bought the company for patents they could care less about everything else

possomcrast1

That was a guess of mine after reading the stipulations in the deal.

Jkdem85

It’s sad but true and understandable. The handset business looses money and isn’t a core Google business.

Edward Montano

Everyone just tuck your Moto X and G in to its charger tonight and tell it “No you haven’t been abandoned, it’s just a nightmare.” Everything is still gonna be ok for now.

sc0rch3d

“No baby, I’ll never leave you”

*while stealthily hunting for N5 on eBay*

RoadsterHD1

That’s wrong……

MistaButters

I’ll never let go Jack. I’ll never let go.

…….

*Let’s go*

DoctorJB

You better stockpile, Nexus is next.

RoadsterHD1

LOL

Mike

Motorola was the Titanic of phone makers before Google through them a lifeline. Wasn’t much over a year ago everyone was ready to kill Motorola with fire, now everyone loves them? Wonder what people would think if Google would have just let Moto die and never bought them in the first place.

michael

It feels like santa claus had a car crash and he got picked up by someone who dove him to the kids in time. That’s super cool and everybody is rooting for this guy.
But suddenly he realizes, that he got some cool patent assets, he decides to shot santa claus right in his face.

Mark

Nicely reasoned and balanced response to the situation as we know it, Kellex. Only time will tell, but no, still not pleased. As you say, at least it isn’t Huawei,.. Add yet another American company to the Chinese acquisition list.

Derek

Once it is officially official, I’ll be looking elsewhere as I don’t see the Motorola brand being “Motorola” as it is right now so to speak. I see it going downhill from there.

That’s like getting upset that you have to have a Microsoft account to get into Hotmail.

Tim242

No it’s not the same at all. It’s like saying you have to have Facebook to use Gmail. I have a Google account. A Google account and using a social network is not the same.

nickdrake

…how so?

Dre Fay

Kellex you are a true voice of reason, in unsure times such as these.

ken147

Excuse me while I crawl into a corner with my moto x and cry…

randompsychology

When Lenovo bought IBM’s PC business, part of the deal included Lenovo keeping the brand “IBM” attached to the machines for 5 years. They could add the Lenovo brand to it as well, but it still had to carry the IBM logo. So, your facts above are just slightly off 😉 Of course, now the IBM brand is gone and it’s just Lenovo.

Not saying that’s happening with Motorola though.

My prediction would be that Lenovo eventually retires the “Motorola” brand itself, but keeps the handset branding of “Moto.” So, you eventually end up with something like the “Lenovo Moto X.”

Correct, let me clarify that we may not see major name changes initially.

Tim242

You should feel guilty. All that Moto Money you demanded, did them in!

Sean Walton

I agree. I think they will transition to the Lenovo name in time, but they will take their time. If they did it within a year, I think it would be too much of a shock to loyal and new customers.

RoadsterHD1

Lenovo Droid MAXX?

cjohn4043

I just hope Lenovo let’s Motorola run their company just as Google did.

Logan Jinks

This is what I want the most I think will most likely happen. If Lenovo plays their cards right, may we will me looking at a Moto X tablet not too far down the line.

RoadsterHD1

That would be great!!! motorola is really doing something good…

Justin W

If they did this, I would be so happy. Just allowing Motorola to utilize Lenovo’s distribution platform would be all they would need to push their devices. And the name, the name must stay the same.

NeilOMalley

I have used a lot of Lenovo laptops and tablets and have always come away with a positive review. Honestly, as a Moto X owner, if they can take the same handle on it that Google did by letting them remain to be their own company with a big company backing them up it could go well for them. It will be interesting to see what comes of it.

Adam Truelove

But I bet Lenovo didn’t mess with the OS on those laptops did they? It’s one thing to have solid hardware (which I’m sure Lenovo will do just fine with), it’s another to not muck up Android as Samsung and HTC do. That’s my greatest fear. They remove everything good about the Moto X (near stock Android, really fast OS updates) and replace it with Lenovo’s crappy vision of what Android should be, which would lead us back to month long waits to get Android updates.

Justin Barrett

Maybe it’s wishful thinking, but they’d have to be insane to try and tweak the existing OS on the Moto X. They’ll likely just let Moto do their thing, or at least provide resources for the direction they’re headed.

C-Law

Yeah. I used a lenovo tablet. It was awful and the tweaks to the os were also awful. Lenovos vision of android is awful

Adrynalyne

Lenovo’s low end stuff is utter crap.

Nikuliai

eveyone’s low end stuff is utter crap, that’s why it’s low end 😛

Adrynalyne

Touche.

NeilOMalley

From the couple I have seen and used they didn’t seem to do much to the OS. Looked mostly stock.

Adrynalyne

I setup a w530 today and this is the first time I’ve seen “bloat” be useful.

Why do i get the feeling this was all part of Samsung’s deal with Google?

John Galt

Huh? Can you explain?

AbbyZFresh

Think about it.

It all makes sense now. Google definitely sold it as part of their deal with Samsung. Google gets rid of nexus line phones and sells Motorola to Lenovo. Samsung stops developing Tizen and moves touchwiz back to almost pure stock. Google and Samsung decide they can do more together. They both stopped the programs aimed at each other.

I’m almost considering going back to the iPhone now after hearing this. At least Google has all of their apps there now.

Adam Truelove

If Google drops Nexus phones or at least doesn’t give me a way to get simple, understated hardware running stock Android provided directly from Google at low off-contract prices, I’m done with Android.

I don’t want an undersized and underpowered GPE Moto X, or an overpriced GPE Galaxy S4 with crappy hardware buttons.

JoeN

Don’t let the door …

Menger40

I don’t know why you think Nexus comes into this at all. I think this is all about improving the relationship between Google and handset manufacturers, especially Samsung. When one of your vendors is competing with you, it’s hard to be too chummy. I’m sure that Google owning Motorola was making Samsung uneasy about android. This and the patent agreement are designed to put Samsung’s concerns to rest so they don’t pull an Amazon.

BK

Nexus also comes into this because of the recent rumor that Google may kill it off…

“Murtazin also said that Google will not be competing against Samsung or any other brand in hardware, and that the company is considering reprofiling Motorola in the future.”

MicroNix

You trust BGR? Or should I say iBGR?

coolsilver

Agreed 100%

Philip J. Fry

“No gpe device even comes close to the nexus 5”

This x1000

MicroNix

“It WAS a jab at Samsung. Their phones are awful.”

Said the 3% of Android users that didn’t buy a Samsung.

Adrynalyne

You meant 37%, right?

Jason B

I don’t get why people use sales as a defensive tactic. The Toyota Camry was the best selling mid-sized passenger car in the U.S., so that must mean everything else sucks right? Wrong.

The similarities between Toyota and Samsung are this: they built a brand identity that resonates well with the masses.

Most “general” people don’t even know how to use the features of their Samsung phone, so they just bought into the advertising (“This is better than an iPhone, so buy it”). What I found was cheap hardware with half-baked software.

tomgillotti

Difference… perception is that Toyota is great (and, really it’s garbage). Samsung perception is that it’s innovative (it is at least that).

Tim Aries

I feel bad for you.

Khaf

build wise I think they are crappy. If Motorola made a phone the size of the Note 2 or 3 It would be perfect. There are plenty of products whos high sales dont match there quality

Maybe, iOS and Android are new, what makes you think MS can’t catch up or that another company can’t enter (like the Ubuntu edge)?

aQuickBit

i tried it out for 6 months…its not that bad.

sean carey

i dont want a phone that’s “not that bad”. My Moto X was basically phone of the year, and it feels like Superman being disowned by his Earth parents 🙂

aQuickBit

True. The only things that really would have changed my “not that bad” to a “great alternative” is 1) Lack of Glass support 2) Internet Explorer is your only option (I wished to have Firefox or Chrome…hell even Opera) 3) Capacitive buttons are way too sensitive (it’s an on-going joke/annoyance in the WP community that “Oops, I accidentally Binged”. Other than those 3 I loved WP. SkyDrive was fantastic, the “chaotic” LiveTiles are a diamond in the rough, and the UX just feels really nice…like a very personal phone. However, I can’t live without Google Now, Google Maps…basically any Google services except GMail.

AngryBadger

Did they update the app to OneDrive yet? My desktop app hasn’t updated yet… (wasn’t there a lawsuit which ended; in turn making MS change the name).

Franklin Ramsey

Yes there was but they just announced the new name. They haven’t started the roll out of the new OneDrive name yet.

Tim Aries

BlackBerry lol
trust me, I though it was real bad idea of having one, until i finally had it.

Justin Larmay

I’m with you. No nexus or at least moto x type phone next year and a lot of people are gonna be super pissed.

zepfloyd

“If Google …. I’m done with Android.”

Oh yea? and where are you going to go? the overpriced tiny iPhone? Deadberry? Windows?! LOL.

Please.

ButThatsJustMe

I remember when smaller phones were applauded because phones are just phones. People put way too much into a device that only lasts about 2 years before you need a new one.

Adrynalyne

You make it sound like Android is the only viable choice out there.

LiterofCola

Really? How’s that camera doing?

Bootleg Zani

I don’t know man I have a Nexus 5 and a Moto X and i still think I prefer the Moto X over the Nexus 5 and I originally wanted a Note 3 for that massive screen.

schlanz

Because other OEMs can’t make a good phone (including GPE devices)?????

Please, go back to iPhone.

MistaButters

Nexus 5: $349
GPE SGS4: $649

……

schlanz

iPhone 5S – $650-850

MistaButters

That’s the point. If he has to go back to paying $650 starting for a device, he might as well go buy an iPhone.

schlanz

except that he doesn’t. there will always be better android options for less than 650. and even if, its ludicrous to say the only good thing about android devices is better pricing. skinned UI or not, android trounces ios in terma of usability.

Tim Aries

well after years of using android I am looking for a more stable OS, which iOS, BlackBerry 10 and Windows Phone seem to deliver

nsanowai

The point is Google is showing that they care little for their products and only about what it brings them (that sweet, sweet data)

Tony Byatt

Here’s to hoping for a Note 4 with near stock appearance, S-Pen features, and Touchwiz camera features…

crazed_z06

Cant tell whether to up or downvote this

Rodeojones000

There has been zero talk of TouchWiz moving back to near stock Android. The agreement with Samsung is to do away with the Magazine UX and to stop adding in apps that compete directly with stock Google apps. If you think Samsung is suddenly going to rid themselves of their interface you are sadly mistaken.

tv

Wrong, read the verge (you won’t get real news here)

Rodeojones000

No. You are wrong. From the Verge article (which I’d already read prior to commenting on here):
“Samsung tells us that it “will continue to identify and provide differentiated and innovative service and content offerings on our mobile devices.””

Translation: TouchWiz is going nowhere.

Rafy286

I was just telling my brother the same. It all makes sense.

anezarati

this is absolutely correct

WickedToby741

Still don’t know that I’m buying the whole “death to Nexus” thing, but the sale of Motorola certainly fuels that fire. And I’m not sure Samsung will drop Tizen, although I could certainly see that as an important part of the deal to Google.

Also keep in mind that by selling Motorola to Lenovo, Google may have laid the framework for a true Samsung competitor. Google was never going to truly turn Motorola into a Samsung competitor unless Samsung turned away from Android or they would risk alienating them and other Android OEM’s (think Microsoft with Nokia), but now that Motorola is no longer part of Google, they can go for the jugular. And Lenovo is the kind of company that can and will.

AbbyZFresh

Even if Lenovo somehow managed to improve Motorola’s phone division. Samsung has the incredible power of marketing and brand recognition that always guarantees them a success. They spend more money on marketing alone than the entire value of assets Lenovo has right now.

If Lenovo truly has the dedication to turn Motorola into a Samsung competitor, they better damn improve everything to Motorola upon what Samsung does.

As of now, I still love my Moto X, but i’ve officially lost my enthusiasm for Motorola as a company.

Daeshaun Griffiths

“…but i’ve (officially) lost my enthusiasm for Motorola as a company”

Preach.

sean carey

I have too. I really feel down about the phone im holding in my hands. NOTHING has changed (obviously) with my Moto X, but having Motorola not be around anymore, no longer a Google company, and Lenovo (maybe they are fine, but im not rushing out to buy a lenovo laptop ever) as my phone’s mfg now….i dont know…its like the curtains are being closed on my android love

Lavon Moore

I hate to say this but am feeling the same way as a htc one and nexus 5 owner going back to Apple seem like my next plan. After rumors of killing the nexus line and selling moto am starting to lose confidence

Lavon Moore

And the moto x was a damn good phone I actually wanted to get a wood version but that’s dead. Also don’t get me wrong I have a ton of respect for Lenovo but it just seem wrong for some reason.

sean carey

I bought the Moto X (off contract no less) to have Google behind my PHONE, not just my operating system. Now they have sold the brand i’ve loved in the android game, and who knows what will be left of Motorola. I know have a Lenovo X? That isnt enticing, exciting, or heart-warming to me. I guess my timely updates will be out the window too. As of now, im on the jump ship side of things. Not happy.

Al-Burrit0

This actually came to mine as well. I’m a little worried but at the same time optimistic. lenovo is good with tech so there is that

WTF-Google

All those New Moto Employees in Texas are all going to lose their jobs now by the end of this year. EFFING GREAT. Too Bad Google didn’t secure the factory and Jobs to all those new employees, at least for a couple years.

More Jobs Going Back To China. No way they will pay the overhead for american employees when Chinese Slaves will do it for $1 an hour.

And now Motorola, A Historic American Company, that made the First Cellular call in 1972, goes the way of other Historical Companies that actually did good things and were not evil.

zurginator

Lenovo just opened a US plant though, so the Moto plant might stay. Manufacturing in the US is a relatively cheap way to secure the market – people will buy your stuff just because it’s made in America.

Trey Mitchell

“All those New Moto Employees in Texas are all going to lose their jobs now by the end of this year.”
Oh look more wild speculation.
I don’t see why everyone is freaking out about Lenovo being based out of China. they are a global company. they have call centers and other LARGE presences here in the states. I Seriously doubt they are just going to uproot a bunch of established manufacturing facilitates just in the name of moving the jobs. Not only would it upset their their customer base but unless Texas’s tax laws change it would probably be a loss for them in the long run.
Everyone is jumping to conclusions about Lenovo. I think you need to take a closer look at them before you get all up in arms about them just because of where the company was started. Lenovo is a business just like Google. They are going to do what they can to make the most money they can with the Moto brand. Yes Moto is a historic brand, but their business arm FAILED that’s why google bought them in the first place. Because Sanjay was driving them in to the ground. Google set them on a course for profitability and spun them off. Lenovo would be foolish to not capitalize on what Google has set in motion, and being the largest and fastest growing computer company in the world I’m sure they have the insight to do just that.
So how about you all stop bitching and just wait and see. Hell for all we know the FTC shuts down the deal. so cool your damn jets and enjoy the show.

Juice

It was part of the Samsung deal. Samsung agrees to go closer to stock, if Google agrees to sell Motorola.

DoctorJB

Don’t forget killing Nexus. 🙁

Milind Shah

I don’t know what i’ll do when this day comes :'(

Fahris

There Goes Any One Getting fast decent updates from and Android Manufacturer Too. Get ready to not see any updates to our Moto X’s.

LiterofCola

Hell, if Samsung started having a UI like Moto’s then I could really get behind it.

WickedToby741

Because it probably is. Samsung’s position: “We’ll stop competing with you in software if you stop competing with us in hardware.”

hero

If that’s the case then I respect Google a whole lot less. Even Microsoft would have said F U, we’ll kill you in hardware and no one wants you’re s hitty software anyways.

This is lame. I don’t want a smartphone from Lenovo or Motorola for that matter anymore. Time to start looking elsewhere. Thanks for NOT listening to us on this one Dennis Woodside

Cael

Microsoft is paying OEM’s to make Windows Phone. *stares at Sony*

hero

For marketshare of their OS. They paid I think around $7 billion for Nokia’s handset division, hopefully they don’t plan on selling it to the chinese

DoctorJB

They don’t have a Samsung like figure that can force it. They also don’t have a forkable OS that can be easily repackaged.

Cael

No, no, no. What I’m saying is Microsoft can buy out Nokia’s hardware and make Microsoft Windows phones, but others won’t be alienated because Microsoft is giving/will give the OEM’s money (or other deals) to make Windows Phones, when it’s supposed to be the reverse to license it.
The chances of Google doing that? I’m thinking 0%. Android is already free, the only thing to keep the OEM’s from going elsewhere or developing their own OS’s is to keep/make them happy. Samsung could easily go Tizen and as long as it’s Galaxy people would buy it. LG could start making WebOS phones. HTC could make the Chinese OS phones. Sony could develop an OS based on the Vita/PS3/PS4 UI. Plus the possibility of ditching Google and forking?
Dumping Motorola and (rumored) Nexus products and going GPE? That might make a few happy as been rumored and said already.

hero

I get what you’re saying. It just seems misleading to make it seem like American manufacturing and American jobs are so important to your company and then sell your company to a Chinese one in order to strengthen relationships with a S Korean one. How about trying to be competitive with Samsung instead of playing nice all the time? Touchwiz is an abomination compared to devices with GPE/pure android, we all know that – let the markets figure it out too. You have the cash to be in it for the long haul no doubt

T B 718

Why are you blaming Woodside? He’s the CEO of Motorola, not the CEO of Google. Blame Larry Page if you’re going to blame someone.

hero

if I knew LP read droid-life maybe I’d put him on notice too!!!!

T B 718

Okay I’ll give you that one lol.

athom07

You realize that Woodside is likely dealing with the possibility of losing his own job, or being forced to layoff employees based on a decision that he likely had no part in?

hero

I could be wrong but I think Dennis Woodside will be able to find work after Motorola…..

Al-Burrit0

If Woodside goes then it really will be all over for moto. 🙁

angel maldonado

I wouldn’t call the new tile crap competition.

Wolfpack93

I’d be more inclined to believe Google bought Motorola purely for the patents. They never had any real intention of keeping the hardware business as evidenced by the Nexus line continuing to be produced by other manufacturers. Once the patents were transferred into Google’s name, the mobile portion was sold off. On paper it looks like they took a loss, but I imagine the acquired patents are worth more than the 10BN they are “losing”.

Cael

Google could have bought the patents from Motorola and gave them a lifetime licensing deal but lbr, Sanjay would have burned through that cash with the Droid Razr HD+, Droid Razr HD+ Ultra, and Droid Razr HD+ Ultra Omega in a year. There’s articles detailing it’s not really a loss for Google. Basically now it just seems like they paid $4-5 billion on patents since they sold everything else.

Mark

Google got to use the tax losses of Motorola which was a huge undisclosed sum. After taking into account of sale of both Motorola entities and tax assets, I believe the net cost to Google was $1.5 billion. So basically it was $1.5 billion the majority of Motorola’s patents. Not bad at all

Brandon Golway

I had never thought about that until now. Interesting.

Johnny

The Moto X2 will still have a Google influence but I dont know about after that or if these phones now will get Quick OS updates since its not a part of Google anymore….

sc0rch3d

son of b!tch….one of the main reasons i got a moto x was b/c of google owning moto! shite!!!!

sean carey

Ive had the Moto Droid, The Droid X2, The OG Razr Maxx, and now the Moto X. I love Motorola (clearly), but those first three phones got terrrrrribly slow updates. Then by the time the update came, the phone wasnt equipped to handle to software. So i am being realistic (or depressed) and thinking that Google just drop-Kicked Motorola to the side, along with all the customers they just got to buy a phone branded as a Google/Motorola phone. Its sickening

Ryan

We know that many people might not like Lenovo adding its touch to the upcoming X phone.

PoisonApple31

By the time Lenovo gets the current Google-Motorola projects out of the pipeline, they could do something different – too early to tell.